A DAY IN THE LIFE OF AIM
by MiddleAgedMutantNinjaTurtle
Summary: More of the After The Great Amalgam Crisis. AIM is active in San Francisco. The Punishment Squad, run by The Punisher, is too...


A DAY IN THE LIFE OF AIM, LUKE CAGE, MISTY KNIGHT, ORORO, WOLVERINE, SABERTOOTH, AND MATT MURDOCK

The Wizard teleported into an empty room 500 feet under Alcatraz Island. Next to that room was a large chamber full of equipment and computers. The Tinkerer was checking connections between four humanoid robots with human faces and four clusters of laptops.

The Mad Thinker was connected to another robot, the Super Adaptoid. "The hero magnet worked," the Wizard said, "MODOK One is gone."

"I noticed," Phinneas Mason gestured at a lone laptop repeating a video clip of MODOK landing in San Francisco Bay, "the emergency teleporter got you out of there just in time."

"Too bad they're not on our side…"

"Such is life." Mason stood up and walked over to the lone laptop, played with it and watched machines in the ceiling wake up, hissing, sparking, humming, the sound modulating to a deep-toned harmony that made the Wizard sleepy.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZAP!

The searing flash jolted him awake. The four robots moved first, looking around, then approaching the Wizard. His detectors beeped in alarm at the energies flowing into their weapons pods. He levitated, flying behind The Mad Thinker.

"Relax," Mason said, "they aren't after _you…"_

The quartet of robots left the room.

"Where are they going?"

"After our coffee-drinking heroes in Pacific Heights."

"We're killing them?"

"Keeping them busy," Mason corrected The Wizard, which always annoyed him, "the idea to give the Adaptoid some of Thinker's creativity is a good one, but look at these readings. We'll have to spend some time teaching our baby."

"Let me see—" Mason got shoved out of the way. He glared and played with some objects on a burn-scarred table.

"Mad Thinker won't be able to 'share' himself with more of our creations for a day or so," the Tinkerer said, "I'll hook some brain food up to the old bastard."

"Do that…"

Mason connected some transparent cables to the Thinker, linking him to a bubbling vat of burnt-orange liquid. He looked back at the Wizard, who barely moved except for warp-speed fingers on a keyboard.

The Wizard eventually straightened, stretched, and laughed. "It wasn't so hard! The Super Adaptoid will be fully functional, I guarantee it!"

"Good," Mason said, "NOW!"

A cigar-shaped object on the burn-scarred table generated a blinding bolt of coherent energy. The Wizard howled in agony as he slammed into the wall next to the door the robots had used. The table legs, all that was left of the abused piece of furniture, burst into flame and disintegrated into smoking ashes. The Super Adaptoid's eyes opened.

"It isn't time now," Mason said to it, "take the armor off that fool and rest for an hour, then follow your programming."

The orders were followed. The Adaptoid's eyes closed. Mason walked over to The Wizard, attached devices to his ankles, wrists and throat, grabbed the lone laptop and left the chamber.

FIVE MINUTES LATER AT FILLMORE AND JACKSON (PACIFIC HEIGHTS 'HOOD OF SAN FRANCISCO)

Fillmore and Jackson was a nice place for hanging out. Expensive houses, a church, a wine shop, a mom-and-pop store, Tully's, a magazine store, more businesses down the street .

"Bay Area's nice," Misty Knight said, "we gonna stay here?"

"Why not?" Luke Cage asked, "we have proof the bad guys like it here too."

Ororo chuckled. "If we do, I'd prefer Napa, the East Bay, or Sacramento."

"Yeah, San Francisco is colder than them," Knight said, "but you wouldn't think that in September and October!"

"Lotta shootings in Oakland," Cage observed, "we could make a difference over there."

A man outside Tully's walked up the #22 MUNI bus as it eased to a stop outside. He shoved it across the street. "Okayyyy!" Cage yelped, "showtime!" He ran outside. The man avoided a punch, grabbed Cage, and hurled him out over Fillmore, over the steep downslope in the direction of the bay.

Ororo and Knight walked outside to confront the problem. Two more men, copies of the first one, landed in the street. "Robots?" Knight asked, electricity sizzling in her natural 'fro.

"Looks like it!"

Misty "Black Lightning" Knight splattered the first robot all over the street with a lightning bolt. The other two lunged at Ororo as a fourth one exploded from a car parked on Jackson street and became a blur of movement.

KRAKA-BOOOM!

Ororo, aka Storm, calmly smiled at her teammate, the other robots' remains smoking nearby.

"I like efficient," Misty said, as Luke Cage stomped back over the hill.

"Just call me Home Run," he muttered, checking out the MUNI bus, "that's what I've become, a baseball…"

"Nah," Misty said, "that was a Hail Mary football pass…"

Cage dragged the bus back to the right side of the street and helped the delighted driver get the electric poles back where they were supposed to be. "Can't believe the lines still work after all that!" he said to Power Man.

"The girls try to be real careful of stuff like that," Cage said, "hope the rest of your day is better than this few minutes!"

The trio bolted for the van and disappeared as quickly as possible.

SIMULTANEOUSLY, ON CRISSY FIELD

Matt Murdock, aka The Blind Assassin, aka The Punisher, raised the walky-talky to his mouth.

"Target in sight on Crissy Field."

"Tinker's got a brand new bag," Wolverine muttered back.

"We're going to steal that bag Logan!"

"How many pieces of him you want in that bag?" Sabertooth asked.

"I want him alive and feeling no pain."

"Last time I looked I needed a 40-ouncer to get somebody drunk," Logan said, "I see him."

"Back Logan up Fangs," Murdock snapped, "I want him alive, all body parts accounted for and attached."

"Kill-joy…"

Phinneas Mason heard the "snikt" for the first time in his life, finally discovering the "pleasure" of nearly running into nostrils-full of adamantium claws attached to an extremely hairy short man with an attitude adjustment problem and various other surprises available for inspection in combat…or not.

"Never seen a cross-eyed genius before," Wolverine said, "always a first time."

Mason backed up carefully and found himself in the middle of a Wolverine/Sabertooth Sandwich.

"What do you want?" Mason asked, visibly fearless, but Logan smelled something else.

"Don't need health care bennies," he grinned, "ain't planning on dyin' in bed either. Friend o' mine wants to talk."

"Your friend have a name?"

"The Punisher"

"Does he want to punish me, or buy better gear? I'm good with gadgets."

"We know," Sabertooth blew warm air and super-humanly bad breath against the Tinkerer's left ear.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz—

"Wol—"

ZZZZZZZAP!

Wolverine and Sabertooth looked around the gear-filled chamber, eyebrows quirking at the sight of The Mad Thinker and The Wizard, each immobilized in different ways, apparently guarded by a robot. The robot's eyes opened.

"Leave this place," it said, "or die."

"Everyone dies sometime," Logan retorted, "yo, Sabes, is this a good day to die?"

"I'll let you know…" Sabertooth opened his mouth wider and roared, using some equipment to semi-pole vault himself at the robot. He was swatted across the chamber. The robot smiled. Fangs of steel grew from that smile.

"Geepers Beave!" Wolverine growled, "I think he copied your ugly mug—"

They crashed together, Wolverine hacking off a hand and a nose. They grew back. The robot popped sets of too-familiar claws.

"Magneto's magnetic shyte!" Wolverine snarled, "we have been copied!"

Sabertooth scrambled along the ceiling, silent, intent upon getting revenge for the easy mutant-tossing. He dropped onto the Adaptoid with an even louder roar. The robot roared back.

AT CRISSY FIELD

Phinneas Mason groaned, sat up, and groped himself.

"Looking for this?"

He turned. A man dressed in a blood-red bodysuit (a bone white skull on his chest), the headpiece completely anonymizing him, sat in a leather recliner in the equipment-filled UPS-like van. He had Mason's remote control device.

"Interesting use of adamantium and unstabium," the man said, "a shape-shifting indestructible belt-buckled that does ghod knows what! It teleported my friends somewhere. Tell me how to get them back."

"What's in it for me Punisher?"

"Living."

"Kill me and I'll come back in a better body," Mason said, "I copy my memories every other day."

"Okay…"

Mason struggled to breathe, but the Punisher was strong. He felt a stabbing pain in his neck and saw the Punisher toss an injector somewhere.

"I have friends from strange places," he said.

Mason shivered. His insides felt frozen.

"You have nano-tech in your head talking to other nano-stuff. You have some Kree-tech inside you too. Maybe I want my own Tinkerer Toy. Whaddaya say, wanna work for me Mason?"

"I'm. an. independent. contractor…"

"Not any more."

"Nooooooo…."

Phinneas Mason, The Tinkerer, was dead.

Murdock put the remote control inside a larger device. Captain Marvel might be running around the galaxy but he'd taught the Punisher a few things about Kree technology. He opened a briefcase and took a pair of improved nega-bands out.

Another device got used to scan them. Murdock smiled. The programming was complete. He slipped them on Mason's wrists and tapped them with the analyzer-programmer. The nega-bands shrank to the proper size. Murdock grabbed Mason's bony wrists and slammed them together. He stared into something like Hell for a fraction of a second.

A ghostly Phinneas Mason stood over him. The sold hologram had Mason's memories and personality, but was programmed to obey the Punisher.

"How's the Negative Zone Tinkerer doing?"

"Waking up," the holographic version said, "very upset."

"Connect us."

Another holographic Mason appeared.

"Phinneas old chap!"

"What've you done to me Punisher?" Mason yelped.

"Captain Marvel sends his regrets he couldn't be here to help you adjust to the Negative Zone."

"Is that what you call it?"

"Yup. Dangerous place, but you'll be okay."

"How would you know?"

"Mar-vell told me. The Kree have some experience with nega-bands and their unique uses. Quantum computers, weapons, and intelligence gathering tools all in one. Your copy, the one you threatened me with, is active. Of course, as you can see, I have a copy of you too."

"But I'm alive!"

"It thinks you're dead. When you come back, it's gonna get a naaaaaasty surprise."

Mason groaned.

"Phinny, old pal, let me tell you something Victor von Doom said the other day. Your new 'hood has some tough bastards running around in it. They can't hurt you…much…and they can't hear my voice. When you need to know, I'll tell you what else those wrist bands can do."

Mason scrambled onto a meteoroid and sat on it. "Payback is gonna be colder than space if I ever get the chance to build it for you Punisher!"

Murdock chuckled, cut the connection and spoke into his walky-talky again.

"Ororo?"

"Matt?"

"Where are you?"

"About 6 blocks away."

"Park the van and get ready for a teleport."

"Where?"

"The Tinkerer sent Wolverine and Sabertooth somewhere close by. I'm going to repeat the last thing his remote control did."

"We're ready."

"Teleporting in one…two…three…"

Murdock peeked over a massive machine. The entire Punishment Squad in one place. Wolverine and Sabertooth were in full berserker mode. The robot was too. He saw the elephants in the room, looked at the remote, and smiled. Nobody noticed when The Mad Thinker and The Wizard vanished…except Phinneas Mason. It was a risk having those three together in The Negative Zone, but if they met the locals they'd be running the other way if they could.

Mar-vell was a smart guy. He was glad the Kree was on Earth's side—and he was the son of Ronan the Accuser!

"Scary son of two strangers," Murdock muttered, shuddering, "Man Without Fear my ass! Ronan fears me up real good…hmmm…damn…max range 350,000 miles. Can't drop kick the Adaptoid into the sun…"

WHAM!

Sabertooth moaned on the other side of the machine.

"Okely dokely," Murdock snarled, "the center of the Earth it is!"

ZZZZZZZZZT…

"What the-"

"Don't worry about it Wolvie," Murdock stood up, "if you ever have to fight an Adaptoid again it'll probably be one that doesn't remember your pearly white sneer."

Wolverine straightened up, crunched knuckles and neck joints, smiled and gave Murdock a double bird.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!

The chamber was completely empty of equipment and people.

One thousand feet below, in another chamber, MODOK's replacement opened its eyes. MOCKER (Machine Organism Created to Kill and Evolve Rapidly) walked over to a computer and played with it for a few minutes. MOCKER was grateful not to be stuck in a hover chair, but his creators were so very limited in their karma. He returned to his sleep chamber, programmed his internal digital clock, and closed his eyes.


End file.
